Hopper-car.



PATENTBD 00T. 1o, 1905. c. WRIGHT.

HOPPER GAR.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 30. 1904.

6 SHEETS-SHEET l.

PATBNTED OCT. l0, 1905.

c. WRIGHT.y

HOPPER GAR. APPLIOATION FILE) SEPT. 30. 1904.

messes; mf.

No. 801,292. PATBNTED OCT. l0, 1905'. G. WRIGHT. HOPPER GAR.

APPLIOATION :FILED SEPT. so. 1904. l

6 SHEETS-SHEET s.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT.30. 1904.

110.301,292. 4 PATENTBD 00T. 1o, 19'5zilf C. WRIGHT.

HOPPER GAR.

APELIOAI'ION FILED SEPT. 30. 1904.

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[i1/venta?, Charles fe" Pm( W No. 801,292. PATENTED OCT.10, 1905. C.WRIGHT.

HOPPER OAR.

APPLICATION :FILED s311130. 1904.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 6,

(7) y Mana@ Charles UNITED STATES PATENT CHARLES WRIGHT, OF EVERSON,PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF TO IVRIGHT MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OFPITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

HOPPER-CAR.

Speecaton of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 10, 1905.

Application filed September 30, 1904:. Serial No. 226,717.

T all whom it may concern'f Be it known that I, CHARLES VVRIeI-rr, acitizen of the United States, residing at Everson, in the county ofFayette and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Hopper-Cars, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the structure of railway cars and the like forcarrying loose material in bulk and particularly to steel cars of thehopper type, designed to dump the load through the bottom of the car.The primary objects of my invention are, to provide aconveniently openedside and bottom for this purpose, in which the load will assist in thedumping; to provide superior means for operating the dumping panels ofsuch a car having hing'ed sides or bottom; to design the frame of thecar for more eiiicient support of the body and utilizing all of thepossible space for the load; and to generally improve the various partsof the structure of steel cars as will appear more fully in thefollowing description. These objects, and other vadvantages hereinafterto appear, I attain by means of the construction illustrated inpreferred forms in the accompanying drawings, where- Figure 1 is apartial side elevation of one end of a car embodying my inventions,showing parts broken away to illustrate several features ofconstruction;

Figure 2 is a vertical cross section through the car on line (2) inFigure 1;

Figure 3 is a central longitudinal section, on line (3) of Figure 2, ofone end of the same;

Figure A is a top plan of the frame of the car;

Figure 5 is an underplan view of the entire car body;

Figure 6 is an end view in elevation of the entire car body;

Figure 7 is a cross section, ony line (7) of Figure 8, showing amodified mechanism for operating the dumping panels, and

Figure 8 is a side elevation of one end of the car showing the modifyingmeans of operating the panels.

Vhile the principal features of construction herein shown are asapplicable to wooden cars, or others, I have shown for illustration acar constructed entirely of steel. The car frame proper is composed ofthe side sills 10 the middle cross sill 11 and the end sills 12, beneathwhich is a longitudinal center sill 13 placed below the plane of theside end and middle sills. From Figures 4 and 6 it will be seen that theend of the center sill 13 is embraced by two halves of the body bolster14:, and in front the center sill 13 is cut olf at a proper distance,and I form an inclosure for the draft gear attached thereto by means ofthe two short sills 15 which project forward from the bolster to the endof the car, are supported under the end sills 12 and held securely inplace by means of the strap or brace 50 as shown in Figure 6. For addedstiffness I provide the struts 16 and the cross braces 17 attached asshown, and the sides 22 of the main body may be braced at intervals bymeans of the struts 18 shown in cross section in Figure 3. The ends ofthe body bolster 14 are preferably also braced by hanger straps 19 asshown in Figure 1. By this arrangement practically all the space in thecar between the two trucks down to as close as practicable to the trackitself provides room for the load, and more room and freedom for thedumping bottom is allowed.

The car body has the sides 22 and sloping ends and 21, and extendingbetween the two wheel trucks as shown particularly in Figures 1 and 2, Iprovide the longitudinal dumping panels, composed of the side panels 24pivoted to the side sill at 23 and carrying the sliding panel 26 pivotedto the hinged side panel at and supported at its two ends on rollers 27.These sliding panels 26, as will be clear from the drawings, make aclosure at the lower end of the fixed panels 28, which are supported atthe top directly on the center sill 13, as by the brackets shown. Ateach end of the dumping hopper I have attached directly to the centersill 13 a bearing supporting therein a screw 29 carrying a movable head30, to which are pivoted toggle links 31, by pins 32 which move in ahorizontal path guided by the rails 33. As better shown in Figure 6, thetoggle links 3l are pivoted at their outer ends to cross thrust links 34which in turn are pivoted by IOO pins 35 to the edges of the slidingpanels 26 of the hopper.

It will be seen from this construction that the turning of the screw 29by means of the gear 36 and the shaft 38, extending' to the outside ofthe car and conveniently operated by a ratchet 39 or by any otherdesired means, the toggle links 3i are drawn inwardly and thrust the bar34 outward against the movable end of the sliding panels 26 and openthem for dumping the car inside of the track. Engaging' the gear 36fixed on the screw 29, I provide an additional gear and the longitudinalshaft 37 to the other end of the hopper, so that the turning of eitherone of the screws 29 will operate the screw at the other end at the sametime. It will be understood of course that the particular arrangement ofthe toggle links and the employment of the cross thrust bars is notessential to the invention, but the toggle links may be directlyconnected by their ends to the pins 35 on the movable panel 26 and theirmotion reversed, or otherwise arranged as maybe convenient. In thearrangement shown it is seen that the toggle links have their greatestpower at the beginning of the motion when the greatest power is needed,and that the weight of the panel after the car has been dumped will tendto render easy the return of all parts to normal position.

From Figure 2 it will be plain that when it is desired to dump the caron the outside of the track the panel 26 may simply be omitted and theliXed panel 2S extended to the outer corner and panel 24 directlyoperated by the toggle links as heretofore described.

I have shown in Figures 7 and 8 a modified means of operating thedumping panels in place of the toggle link construction just described.Upon a bracket 43 on the depending bulk head 40 at the ends of thehopper heretofore described, I provide a horizontal screw 42 havingthreads on the two respective sides of the middle running in reversedirection, and upon these I mount traveling blocks 4l which are pivotedto the ends of the sliding panel 26 after the same manner as the linksare pivoted in the device of Figure 2. At the center the screw 42 hasliXed thereon a sprocket wheel 44, which by means of a chain 47 operatesa similar screw at the other end of the hopper. The screw may bedirectly revolved by means of 'the ratchet 45 on its outer end, which isengaged by a dog and lever 46, as will be plain from Figure 8, or it maybe turned by any means preferred.

It will be evident from the above description that the entire availablespace of the car is taken up with the load, since the fixed panels 28may be as deep and as close together as may be desired in the design,and all the movable parts are placed outside the hopper and between thecar trucks. The load by its pressure will assist in opening' the movablepanels, so that very little power will be required, and the dumping maybe either inside the rail or outside with very little alteration of thedesign. The sliding panel 26 being mounted upon roller 27 on ahorizontal track will move easily to and from place, and the employmentof the side hinged panel 24 will cause the load itself to draw the panel26 in an outward hori- Zontal direction for dumping, while the parts arereturned by their own weight. The various advantages of the structurewill be apparent to those familiar with the use of such cars.

Having thus described my invention and illustrated its use, what I claimas new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is the following:

l. In a hopper car a dumping panel supported upon hinges and adapted toslide hori- Zontally to open the hopper, substantially as described.

2. In ahopper car the dumping bottom comprising the hinged panels 24 and2G, substantially as described.

3. In a car frame the combination of the side and end sills, the middlecross sill, the longitudinal center sill 13 placed below the plane ofthe side and end sills, the bolster and the draft sills, substantiallyas described.

4. In a hopper car the combination of the depending pivoted sides, thepivoted sliding panels, and screw-actuated means for dumping the hopperby moving said panels, substantially as described.

5. rI`he combination of a car body having the slanting ends, and thesides comprising' a hinged panel, a sliding vbottom panel pivotedthereto, and toggle mechanism for operating the movable panels fordumping the car.

6. In a hopper car a sliding dumping panel, in combination with a screwand toggle links operated thereby and mechanism for transmitting thethrust of the toggle links to said sliding panels as the angle of thetoggle links decreases.

7. In a hopper car the dumping panel 26 hinged to a swinging support atone end and supported upon a roller at another point, and screwmechanism for sliding said panel.

8. In a hopper ear in combination with the side and end sills and thelongitudinal center sill and bolster below the plane of the other sills,the slanting' diagonal braces I7 engaging both the frame proper and thesaid bolster and center sill, substantially as described.

9. In a steel ear the combination with thev side and end sills in thesame plane and joined rigidly in a frame, the bolster 14 under andsupporting said frame and the single center sill 13 and draft sills inthe same plane with and rigidly attached to the bolsters, substantiallyas described.

l0. In a steel ear the combination with the IOO IIO

side and end sills in one plane and forming a signed my naine in thepresence of two subrigid frame, of the draft sills and bolsters scribingWitnesses.

placed under and supporting said frame and the straps 19, 50, tying theends of the bol- 5 sters and draft sills to the body frame, sub- CHARLESWRIGHT.

Witnesses stantially as described. F. WV. H. CLAY,

In testimony whereof I have hereunderl l HERMANN LECHNER.

